ANTH 397 - The Politics of Nature

Institution:

Wesleyan University

Subject:

Anthropology

Description:

This seminar explores the ways in which imaginations of nature-culture anchor particular regimes of living and power. Our larger query will concern ontology and cosmology--the worlds and worldviews we inhabit--and what happens when there is basic disagreement as to what "nature" is. For example, do rocks, mountains, and glaciers "listen" as some indigenous peoples claim? Or are these claims a matter of cultural belief? Conversely, how do scientists listen to and relate to their natural objects? What social, historical, and intellectual practices make their visions of nature? And why do some visions appear more "real" than others? What circumstances decide? We will read across histories of science, philosophy, anthropology, postcolonial studies, cultural studies, and feminist science studies to probe the politics, meanings, and materialities of "nature" and the "natural" in a variety of contexts, from natural history in the 18th and 19th centuries to current struggles over the management of natural resources and bioprospecting initiatives.

Credits:

1.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Seminar

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.wesleyan.edu

Phone Number:

(860) 685-2000

Regional Accreditation:

New England Association of Schools and Colleges

Calendar System:

Semester

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